This is the season for record companies to unload buckets of reissues, box sets, and hits collections. So, here’s a special best-of edition of “Albums Worth Your Dime.”
1. The Beta Band, The Best of the Beta Band
(One of the U.K.’s most underrated pyschedelic rock bands releases a smashing example of why they should not have broken up this year. Packaged with a special live CD of their final concert, this is a band worth discovering, and there’s no better collection for it.)
2. Eminem, Curtain Call
(Is he retiring? No one knows for sure, but Em’s greatest-hits package proves he managed an astounding series of classic singles in his short career. Also includes a few new tracks, as well as the live “Stan” duet with Elton John.)
3. Various Artists, Rawkus Records: Best of Decade I, 1995-2005
(This underground hip-hop label – where Mos Def and Talib Kweli got their start – unleashes a pummeling and perfect disc of catchy, smart rap.)
4. Beastie Boys, Solid Gold Hits
(Pretty simple collection: a set of singles, not much more. But, all the same, this is the sound of the evolution of one of the most creative punk/rap groups ever.)
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